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1977 United States Grand Prix
2 October | officialname = 20th Grand Prix of the United States | circuit = Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen Grand Prix Course | location = Watkins Glen, New York | circuittype = Permanent racing facility | lapdistance = 5.434 | laps = 59 | distance = 320.606 | pole = James Hunt | polenation = GBR | poleteam = | poletime = 1:40.863 | fastestlap = 1:51.854 | fastestlapdriver = Ronnie Peterson | fastestlapnation = SWE | fastestlapteam = | fastestlapnumber = 56 | winner = James Hunt | winnernation = GBR | winnerteam = | second = Mario Andretti | secondnation = USA | secondteam = | third = Jody Scheckter | thirdnation = RSA-1928 | thirdteam = }} The 1977 United States Grand Prix, otherwise known as the 20th Grand Prix of the United States, was the fifteenth round of the 1977 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at Watkins Glen on 2 October 1977.'United States GP, 1977', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2014), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr295.html, (Accessed 30/05/2018) The race, which was also known as the 1977 United States Grand Prix East, would see Niki Lauda somewhat inevitably crowned as World Champion for the second time. Qualifying would see Lauda's old rival, James Hunt claim pole position for , the Brit sharing the front row with Hans-Joachim Stuck. Stuck's teammate John Watson was next ahead of home hero Mario Andretti, while title protagonists Lauda and Jody Scheckter would start from seventh and ninth respectively. A persistent drizzle had soaked "the Glen" before the start of the race, prompting a late change to "wets", although Watson alone would gamble on slicks ahead of the start. That proved to be a mistake as he instantly fell to the back of the pack, as teammate Stuck stole the lead from Hunt into the first corner. Stuck would squirm away with the lead in the opening stages, chased by Hunt and Andretti who had been untroubled by the slithering Watson at the start. Behind, Scheckter was truly fighting for the title, passing Lauda, Ronnie Peterson and Carlos Reutemann to move into fourth by the end of lap three. Another man on the move was Clay Regazzoni, although he was making up ground after a poor performance in qualifying, having to carve his way up into the top ten and beyond. Out front, meanwhile Stuck seemed to be in command, dancing his just out of reach of Hunt and Andretti, and with a light drizzle keeping the circuit damp, there seemed little chance of that changing. Yet, on lap fifteen, the German's maiden victory was lost, for his Brabham suddenly jumped out of gear through a corner and shot the car into the dirt. That promoted Hunt into the lead with a ten second gap over Andretti, while Scheckter was pushing hard to catch them as Lauda moved past Peterson and Reutemann. Indeed, a late charge from Andretti almost threatened to overturn Hunt's advantage, although, in truth, the race had been over since Stuck's fall. Hunt duly cruised home to claim his second victory of the season from Andretti, while Scheckter came home a distant third. That fact, combined with fourth place, ensured that Lauda was World Champion for the second time, a year after he had come within seconds of death at the 1976 German Grand Prix. After the race, in somewhat typical fashion given the politics of Maranello, Lauda was sacked by after signing for the Brabham-Alfa Romeo team for . Background The F1 circus headed back across the Atlantic for its final few rounds of the 1977 tour, setting up shop in the ever picturesque Watkins Glen.A.H., 'The United States Grand Prix: Hunt triumphs in the wet', motorsportmagazine.com, (Motor Sport, 01/11/1977), https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-1977/51/united-states-grand-prix, (Accessed 30/05/2018) However, despite falling earlier in the calendar than it had before, the party atmosphere around "the Glen" would be retained, with no major changes to the venue since 1976. Indeed, the only people who would not be enjoying the scenery would be the race teams themselves having to pack-up as soon as the chequered flag fell to make the move north to Canada, set to be held the following week. Into the entry list, and there were some notable absentees among the privateers, meaning that the field was slashed to a somewhat paltry 27 entries. Among these there would be one fresh face, as Indy Car and Formula 5000 racer Danny Ongais bought himself a drive in an old , which had been retrofitted to PC4-spec by the old Team Penske crew. However, the entry was instead to be handled by American privateer Indy Car team Interscope Racing, who fielded a mix of ex- and Penske crew members. Elsewhere, there were some major political machinations going on at , a fallout sparked by Niki Lauda's signing to for , to which Mr. Ferrari had proclaimed: "Judas for selling out to the competition for thirty pounds of salami". Out went Lauda's major supporters, assistant sports director Sante Ghedini and chief mechanic Ermanno Cuoghi, with Enzo Ferrari instructing Roberto Nosetto to deny the latter access to the pit wall during the weekend. Elsewhere, Mr. Ferrari had been busy scouting around for a replacement driver, and after approaches to Mario Andretti and Patrick Tambay were rejected, the Scuderia ultimately signed young star Gilles Villeneuve, promising the Canadian a drive in his home race the following weekend. However, for the immediate future, Lauda was still team leader, and arrived at the Glen knowing that he would more than likely take the title by the end of the weekend. He and teammate Carlos Reutemann used the same 312T2Bs they had raced in Monza, although Reutemann was now given priority in terms of engines and crew. Regardless, the Scuderia arrived among the favourites to claim victory, with Lauda himself needing just a single point to claim the ultimate crown. Lauda's title rival Jody Scheckter, meanwhile, knew that he had to claim victory just to keep his title hopes alive, and so brought along their two strongest WRs for the South African to race. However, the dark blue-gold cars were getting increasingly outclassed by their more numerous rivals, and the new car, the WR4, was still in development. As such, it seemed as if Scheckter was fighting a losing battle at the Glen, which had been the death of many title challenges in the past. Elsewhere, had been busy in the driver market, re-signing Ronnie Peterson for 1978 to become their new number two alongside Andretti. He therefore replaced compatriot Gunnar Nilsson, with the younger Swede doubtlessly quick, but too inconsistent to ever be considered "the real deal". Yet, Nilsson would still race for Team Lotus until the end of the season, and was given the newest 78 for the North American tour. had likewise been sorting out their future pilots for 1978, having convinced James Hunt to sign-up after a miserable 1977 campaign. Instead, it was his teammate Jochen Mass who was to be shown the door, to be replaced by the highly rated Patrick Tambay, who would race in the Hong Kong owned once again at the Glen. Mass, meanwhile, would see out his contract to the end of the season, with himself and Hunt given the team's now familiar trio of M26s to choose from. Over at the focus had, unusually, been solely placed on preparing for the US Grand Prix, with John Watson getting a new car after smashing his monocoque in Italy. This new car was the sixth BT45B to be made, while teammate Hans-Joachim Stuck retained his usual charger. The original BT45B carried on as the spare, with no plans to run an additional entry for the rest of the season following their fallout with Martini. In Ken land there were no major changes to their line-up ahead of the Glen, apart from Peterson's impending departure at the end of the season. The Swede would therefore line-up alongside teammate Patrick Depailler as usual, with both using the "streamlined" P34Bs as usual. They hoped that various tweaks to the suspension set-up would cure some instability issues the P34B had suffered, particularly as Peterson had been rather vocal about the car's shortcomings. There were changes at ahead of the visit to New York State, with Riccardo Patrese again absent due to his Formula Two commitments. Many speculated that team director Jackie Oliver would once again clamber into the cockpit, only for the veteran racer to declare that he would miss the race himself due to "business commitments". The seat alongside Alan Jones was therefore handed to ex-Shadow racer Jean-Pierre Jarier, who was without a drive as ATS did not bother making the trip State-side. Elsewhere, still had just the one 771 for Ian Scheckter, meaning Alex Ribeiro was stuck with his old 761B seemingly for the rest of the season. Patrick Nève, meanwhile, was the only of the March privateers to make the trip, with Williams Grand Prix Engineering hoping to secure more sponsorship from the US. The other privateer in the field would be the ever present Brett Lunger, who had a very well prepared pair of ex-factory McLaren M23s to choose from. , somewhat surprisingly, decided to ship their experimental RS01 across the Atlantic for Jean-Pierre Jabouille to race again, with a full set of engine parts sent with him. were better equipped, two cars having been prepared for Jacques Laffite, while Emerson Fittipaldi was down to just a single for the rest of the season. were similarly unchanged with Hans Binder and Vittorio Brambilla in their cockpits, while Clay Regazzoni raced his familiar Ensign once again, having just signed up to join Shadow for 1978. In terms of the Championship and another podium finish for Lauda at the Italian Grand Prix ensured that the Austrian racer was just a point away from his second World Championship, having left Monza with a 27 point lead. The only man who could mathematically deny the Austrian the crown was Jody Scheckter, although that would only do so if the South African could secure three wins in the final three races, with Lauda failing to score at all. Elsewhere, Andretti had won the battle of Monza but lost the war, the result of his fragile Lotus, while Mass had pulled to within a point of teammate Hunt after the Brit's miserable season. Elsewhere it was all over in the International Cup for Constructors' hunt, for had left Italy with an unassailable 30 point lead over Team Lotus-Ford Cosworth. Indeed, like their lead driver Andretti, the Norfolk squad were left to rue their delicate Lotus 78, which was undoubtedly the quickest car in the field. In contrast, Ferrari had won the battle by virtue of their reliability and consistent development, meaning they could put all their efforts in securing the Drivers' crown for Lauda as soon as possible, in spite of his impending betrayal. Entry list The full entry list for the is outlined below: Practice Overview Qualifying Practice/qualifying were scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Watkins Glen, with the usual split of three "timed" sessions, complemented by a lone "untimed" period. Friday would see two of the "timed" sessions, both held in fine, but cool, conditions, while Saturday's running was severely hampered by rain, particularly the final "timed" session. As for a target time, the "aces" in the field would be looking to beat a 1:42.003, a time which had secured pole position for Niki Lauda back in . Friday Qualifying From the very start of the session there would be one driver who dictated the pace at the Glen, and it was not one of the main title protagonists. Instead, it was James Hunt, who was to be seen gently drifting his around the circuit at a rapid pace, more than half a second clear of the chasing pack throughout. Indeed, a 1:41.408 saw the Brit end the morning over half a second faster than second placed Hans-Joachim Stuck, with those two the only drivers to set times under Lauda's old mark. Elsewhere, the rest of the field were slowly getting up to speed after a long trip across the Atlantic, with most encountering small issues early on. Clay Regazzoni was one of those, with his completing the session with the Swiss racer needing to change his gear ratios, only to find that he had in fact been running with a gearbox on the edge of failure. The sister car of Patrick Tambay, however, was the exception to the rule, with the Frenchman's running ruined early on as his engine overheated in the early stages. The afternoon session on Friday was for more exciting although it was Hunt who, once again, dictated the pace throughout. Indeed, it took the Brit only a handful of laps to get under his early mark, before claiming a 1:40.863 midway through the session. On his next run, the Brit was on for an even faster time, until he over-optimistically hit the throttle while riding the kerb at turn ten, and duly sent his McLaren backwards into the barriers. The result was a ruined right-rear suspension unit, and very minor damage to the monocoque. Elsewhere, Stuck confirmed his personal pace by recording a 1:41.138, despite having to switch to the spare car after cracks were found in his race car's gearbox casing. Teammate John Watson was next, proving that the Brabham-Alfas were particularly potent at the Glen, recording a 1:41.193 to go third overall. Next up was Mario Andretti, disappointed that his Lotus 78 was not the fastest thing in the field, while future teammate Ronnie Peterson was the fifth and final man to record a sub-1:42.000 time. Over at the post-Lauda fallout was getting ridiculous, with the Austrian's chief mechanic barred from the pitwall during the session, a ban that was sustained for the rest of the weekend. That would hamper his personal pace to the point that he slipped behind teammate Carlos Reutemann, and only just finished ahead of title rival Jody Scheckter. The South African, however, was having his own dramas with the , which was rarely pointing in a straight line, even on the Glen's straights. Into the stragglers, and Gunnar Nilsson had a miserable afternoon, a brake line failure late in the morning session meaning he had to bed in his new brake system after a long delay. As such, the Swede was well off the pace of Andretti out front, and getting beaten by Vittorio Brambilla, who had an unusually quiet day's running. The was likewise untroubled, while Jochen Mass suffered a legion of minor issues in the second McLaren to leave him at the back of the field. Tambay, meanwhile, would fail to appear at all, meaning he was in danger of missing out on a spot on the grid in 27th. Saturday Qualifying The Saturday morning "untimed" session went by untroubled, although dark clouds had gathered around the Glen overnight, and duly dumped their contents at the end of that session. As such, there would be no changes to the grid on Saturday, meaning Hunt had a decisive pole, while Tambay failed to qualify. In contrast, Danny Ongais had been guaranteed a maiden Grand Prix start, despite being five seconds off the ultimate pace, and had no need to risk his car to try and qualify the day before the race. Regardless, almost all of the field would venture out into the wet, just in-case the rain hung around for Sunday. Alan Jones duly emerged with the fastest time, a 2:07.127, just ahead of Stuck, who was second for the third successive session with a 2:07.750, with no-one else in sight. Indeed, Peterson led the next group, although everyone, including the Swede himself, was five seconds behind or more. Qualifying Results The full qualifying results for the are outlined below: *'Bold' indicates a driver's best/qualifying time. *T Indicates a test/spare car. Grid Race Unfortunately, Sunday would dawn more akin to Saturday than Friday, meaning it was a cold and, ultimately, wet afternoon for racing. Indeed, after a dry warm-up session the clouds finally dumped their load, with a light drizzle evolving into a steady stream of rain as the field assembled on the grid. As such, everyone bar John Watson would switch to wet tyres for the start, with the Brit hoping that the rain would pass in the early stages of the race. Report However, the Ulsterman's gamble was not to pay off, with the #7 disappearing to the back of the field in the middle of the spray. This was a stark contrast to teammate Hans-Joachim Stuck, who shot past pole sitter James Hunt off the line to take the lead into turn one. The rest of the field, including Hunt, would be covered by the spray behind the #8 Brabham, with the entire fielding making it through somehow without issue. Indeed, there would be no issues on the opening lap, with Stuck flashing across the line just ahead of Hunt and Mario Andretti, who was up from fourth on the grid. A small gap then followed before Carlos Reutemann led the next batch, having overtaken Ronnie Peterson off the line as the Swede drifted around Watson off the line. Niki Lauda was next ahead of sole title rival Jody Scheckter, while Watson was running in the back group, although still had ten drivers behind him. Come the end of the second tour it was largely unchanged out front, with Stuck still leading, while Andretti attacked Hunt, albeit briefly. Behind, Alan Jones was on the move, picking his way into the top ten, demonstrating that his decision to push during on Saturday afternoon was a wise decision. As the Australian climbed Watson continued to fall, with the Ulsterman still fighting on with his slicks, despite falling to the very back of the field, only just ahead of Patrick Nève. As the early laps passed most of the attention was placed on Jones, who managed to drag his onto the back of Peterson at the end of the third lap. Unfortunately, Jones' charge would end on the following lap, for the Australian sent his Shadow slithering along the outside of the into turn five, only to find that he lacked the room to complete the move. As such, Jones' car went skating off into the barriers, partially destroying the monocoque, leaving Jones to make his own arrangements to get back to the pits to launch a tirade at Peterson's driving. Another early casualty would include the debuting Danny Ongais at the back of the field, with the American sliding off the circuit on lap seven and into the barriers. A couple of laps later and Jochen Mass was out with water in his electrics, while Ian Scheckter destroyed a lot of catch fencing at the Chicane. Out front, meanwhile, Stuck had lost the use of his clutch, and it was only the German's brute strength that kept the Brabham in the race. Ultimately, however, the lack of a clutch would prove to be Stuck's downfall, for his Brabham jumped out of gear rounding one of the corners at the back of the circuit, which duly threw the German off the tarmac. Stuck was therefore powerless to prevent his car sliding into the catch fencing, smashing the monocoque. He climbed out of the tangled mess unaided, as Hunt assumed the lead a few seconds clear of second placed Andretti. As this had been going on, Jody Scheckter had moved past Reutemann and Regazzoni to move into fourth, before picking up third as Stuck climbed out of his ruined cockpit. The South African duly went chasing off after Andretti, although both the American, and race leader Hunt, were able to extend their advantage over the chasing pack. Behind him, Lauda had followed him through to claim fourth, while Regazzoni was left to harass Reutemann for fifth. Elsewhere, Peterson would come under more fire for his defensive driving, this time while battling compatriot Gunnar Nilsson down the back straight on lap eighteen. Indeed, as Nilsson, who had fought up from the back of the grid at the start, drew alongside the he found that his impending replacement was moving across towards his . So relentless was Peterson's coming that Nilsson was forced onto the grass, and duly went spinning into the barriers and out of the race. A few laps later and Peterson was at it again, albeit to a less severe extent while fending off Jacques Laffite. Laffite made several attempts to pass the Swede's Tyrrell, only to find that Peterson would squeeze him towards the grass every time he got alongside. Ultimately, however, Laffite would manage to pull off a dive into turn five, catching Peterson out on the brakes. Elsewhere, Watson was making up for his mistake of starting on slicks, setting a tremendous pace at the back of the field having stopped for wets on lap eight. Indeed, the Ulsterman was soon weaving his way through the back markers, Nève his first victim on lap fifteen, before steadily catching onto the back of the pack. Indeed, a series of excellent moves, including driving right around the outside of Patrick Depailler at turn five, carried Watson into the top ten by lap 38, only for the Ulsterman to stop for a fresh set of tyres. Watson duly rejoined down in eleventh before getting back into the top ten, only to be forced to stop again on lap 42. This time he dropped down to fourteenth, having seriously contemplated switching back to slicks as the circuit had begun to dry. Ultimately, however, the Ulsterman stuck with a set of wets for his third stop of the afternoon, and was resigned to saving the tyres rather than push as hard as he could. battles his nose-less to the flag at the Glen.]]Peterson, meanwhile, would see his aggressive driving punished by two visits to the pits, one for a new set of wets on lap 34, before deciding to stop again on lap 40 for slicks. However, Tyrrell's indecision across the two stops, plus the fact that the circuit was still too wet for slicks, meant that the Swede dropped right to the back of the field. Indeed, only Vittorio Brambilla remained behind the now slick-shod Tyrrell after Peterson's stop, with the Italian's pace compromised having lost his nose early on. Most of that time loss had been due to Brambilla's stop to have the nose replaced, where it was found that the radiators were so distorted that it was impossible to mount a new nose section properly. Into the closing stages and Hunt's pace was beginning to falter, with the Brit nursing his wet tyres on the drying tarmac while also having to watch his engine temperature. This was compounded by his belief that he was carrying a slow puncture, meaning allowing Andretti to suddenly start carving into his lead with ten laps to go. Indeed, with two laps to go the American was closing in at around a second per lap, and was within two seconds of the Brit's car. However, Hunt did have things in control, and as the McLaren pitcrew, including boss Teddy Meyer waved frantically at him to pick up the pace at the start of the final lap, Hunt pulled out half a second on Andretti to claim victory for the second time in . Andretti came home a frustrated second ahead of Scheckter, while fourth place was enough for Lauda to secure his second World Championship crown. Regazzoni was next having elbowed his way past Reutemann just before half distance, leaving the Argentine to fend off a late challenge from Laffite for sixth in the closing stages. Results The full race results for the are outlined below: Milestones * 'Niki Lauda declared as World Champion for the second time.'15. USA East 1977', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1977/etats-unis-est.aspx#, (Accessed 30/05/2018) * and made their 100th Grand Prix starts as constructors. * started their 50th race as a constructor. * Debut race for Danny Ongais.'1977 United States GP', chicacef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2018), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1977&gp=United%20States%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 30/05/2018) * 250th race to feature a car sporting #14 as its race number. * saw their 2,500th engine entered for a World Championship race. * Fourteenth and final pole position set by James Hunt. * Ninth career win for Hunt. * claimed their 23rd victory as a constructor. ** Engine partner Ford Cosworth had their 106th triumph. * Mario Andretti made his tenth visit to the podium. Standings Fourth place at Watkins Glen proved enough for Niki Lauda to earn his second Championship crown, for Jody Scheckter had failed to win the race. Indeed, with Mario Andretti claiming second on the day it meant that it was the Italian-American, not the South African, that led the chase to be runner-up, with the former seeming to have an advantage in terms of equipment. They were joined in the fight for second by Carlos Reutemann and James Hunt, although Hunt would need two wins just to overhaul Andretti, if Andretti failed to score. had arrived in the United States as the International Cup for Constructors Champions, so the fight for second had taken precedent at the Glen. In this case, it was that had the advantage, the Norfolk squad all but sealing their position in second with 62 points. , meanwhile, had moved up to second, fifteen points away, overtaking ahead of the latter's home race. Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown. References Images and Videos: *F1-history, 'Vittorio Brambilla (United States 1977)', deviantart.com, (DeviantArt, 26/12/2012), https://f1-https://f1-history.deviantart.com/art/Vittorio-Brambilla-United-States-1977-344858155, (Accessed 31/05/2018) References: Category:Grand Prix articles Category:1977 Grands Prix Category:United States Grand Prix Category:Formula One races in the United States